Subject: OAR 461-190-0211 about the case plan activities and standards for support service
payments for the Department’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Job
Opportunity and Basic Skills (JOBS) program which was amended by temporary rule
on April 6, 2012 is being further amended to adjust and clarify program restrictions
implemented July 1, 2011 as a result of budget reductions from the 2011 legislative
session. Effective July 1, 2011, a monthly family maximum was imposed for support
services, including child care. All families were subject to this limitation. The
monthly family support services maximum amounts were removed retroactive to March
14, 2012; however, the related teen parent policy was inadvertently left unaddressed.
This amendment applies the policy to all families with authorized child care, including
teen parents. This amendment also clarifies the rule in the context of removing
maximum amounts.

In the JOBS,
Post-TANF, Pre-TANF, REF, SFPSS, TA-DVS, and TANF programs, notwithstanding any
other administrative rule in Chapter 461 and subject to the limitations of state
funding, the following special provisions apply:

(1) Participation
in an activity (see OAR 461-001-0025) is limited as provided in each of the following
subsections:

(a) An
individual who is determined to be a work-eligible individual according to federal
definition (45 CFR 261.2(n)(1)). Unless sections (10) or (11) of this rule apply,
no other individual may participate in and access JOBS contract activities and support
services (see OAR 461-001-0025).

(b) An
individual who is an applicant in the Pre-TANF program or a recipient of TANF or
Post-TANF program benefits.

(2) For
eligible individuals, subject to the requirements and limitations in sections (1),
(5), (6), and (7) of this rule, the following activities will be available, and
include support services payments if needed:

(a) Job
search (see OAR 461-001-0025).

(b) JOBS
Plus (see OAR 461-001-0025 and 461-101-0010) is limited to six months per individual.

(c) Work
experience (see OAR 461-001-0025).

(d) Sheltered
or supported work (see OAR 461-001-0025).

(e) High
School or GED Completion Attendance (see OAR 461-001-0025) limited to a teen parent
(see OAR 461-001-0000 and 461-001-0025).

(f) Parents
as Scholars (see OAR 461-001-0025).

(g) Limited
family stability (see OAR 461-001-0000).

(A) Drug
and alcohol services (see OAR 461-001-0025).

(B) Mental
health services (see OAR 461-001-0025).

(C) Attending
medical appointments or services.

(D) Rehabilitative
activities (see OAR 461-001-0025).

(3) The
following activities will not include support services payments:

(4) Participation
in an activity is based on whether an individual is Job Ready, Near Job Ready, Not
Job Ready, or a teen parent.

(a) Job
Ready means the individual has no barrier (see OAR 461-001-0025) or current barriers
do not impact participation or employment. In addition, the individual has all of
the following:

(A) Prior
stable work history, either paid or unpaid.

(B) Had
not voluntarily quit or been dismissed from their most recent employment (see OAR
461-135-0070), without good cause (see OAR 461-135-0070).

(C) Reliable
or available transportation.

(D) No
outstanding legal issues that would impact or prevent employment.

(E) Access
to reliable child care within support services limits, or does not need help to
pay for child care, or does not need child care.

(b) Near
Job Ready means the individual has minimal barriers to participation or employment
and the individual is addressing the barriers. In addition, the individual has all
of the following:

(A) Limited
or no work history, either paid or unpaid.

(B) Reliable
or available transportation.

(C) No
outstanding legal issues that would impact or prevent employment, or such legal
issues are identified and are being addressed.

(D) Access
to reliable child care within support services limits, or does not need help to
pay for child care, or does not need child care.

(c) Not
Job Ready means the individual has one or more barriers to participation or employment
or is in crisis, and the individual is not addressing the barriers. For example,
the individual has one or more of the following:

(A) Lack
of stable housing that is preventing participation in an activity or employment.

(B) Domestic
violence, mental health or alcohol and drug issues, and the individual is not addressing
the issue.

(C) Medical
issues that prevent participation in an activity or employment.

(D) Outstanding
legal issues that would impact or prevent employment.

(E) Literacy
issues that impact the ability for the individual to participate in an activity
or obtain employment.

(5) In
approving JOBS program support services payments, the Department must consider lower
cost alternatives. It is not the intent of the Department or of this rule to supplant
Department funding with other funding that is available in the community. It is
the Department’s expectation that case managers and clients will work collaboratively
to seek resources that are reasonably available to the client in order to participate
in activities.

(6) Payments
for support services are only provided when:

(a) Necessary
to participate in activities in a signed case plan;

(b) Authorized
in advance; and

(c) All
other provisions of this rule are met.

(7) Payments
for support services are subject to the following limitations:

(a) Job
Ready individuals may be eligible for child care, transportation, or other costs
related to a job offer.

(b) Near
Job Ready individuals may be eligible for child care, transportation, or other costs
related to a job offer.

(c) Not
Job Ready individuals are not eligible for support services, unless subsection (2)(g)
of this rule applies.

(d) A
teen parent may be eligible for child care, transportation, or other support services,
for participation in a basic education (see OAR 461-001-0025) component (see OAR
461-001-0025).

(e) Child
Care. Payments for child care may be authorized, as limited by OAR 461-160-0040,
if necessary to enable a single-parent Job Ready or Near Job Ready individual or
teen parent to participate in an approved JOBS program activity specified in the
individual’s case plan, or a Not Job Ready individual approved by the district
to complete a family stability activity. If authorized, payment for child care will
be:

(A) The
lesser of the actual rate charged by the care provider and the rate established
in OAR 461-155-0150. The Department rate for children in care less than 158 hours
in a month is limited by OAR 461-155-0150.

(B) The
minimum hours necessary, including meal and commute time, for the individual to
participate in an approved JOBS program activity.

(f) Transportation.
The Department may provide payments for a Job Ready or Near Job Ready individual
or teen parent for transportation costs incurred in travel to and from an approved
JOBS program activity or a Not Job Ready individual approved by the district to
complete a family stability activity. Payment is made only for the cost of public
transportation or the cost of fuel. Payments are subject to the following considerations:

(A) Payment
for public transportation is a priority over payment for a privately owned vehicle.

(B) Payment
for fuel costs for a privately-owned vehicle is only provided if the client or individual
providing the transportation has a valid driver’s license and vehicle insurance
and either of the following is true:

(i) No
public transportation is available or the client is unable to use public transportation
because of a verifiable medical condition or disability for which no accommodation
is available.

(ii) Public
transportation is available but is more costly than the cost of fuel.

(g) Housing
and Utilities. Payments for housing and utilities are not allowed.

(h) Other
Payments. The Department may provide payments to individuals for costs directly
related to a job offer, or costs needed for a teen parent to attain a high school
diploma or GED.

(8) The
Department may require an individual to provide verification of a need for, or costs
associated with, support services prior to approval and issuance of payment if verification
is reasonably available.

(9) The
Department may reduce, close, or deny in whole or in part an individual’s
request for a support services payment in the following circumstances:

(a) The
individual is disqualified for failing to comply with a case plan, unless the payment
in question is necessary for the individual to demonstrate cooperation with his
or her case plan.

(b) The
purpose for the payment is not related to the individual’s case plan.

(c) The
individual disagrees with a support services payment offered or made by the Department
as outlined in the individual’s case plan.

(d) The
individual is not determined to be a Job Ready or Near Job Ready individual or teen
parent.

(10) An
individual who is not a teen parent and who is otherwise exempt from JOBS requirements
as a one-parent household with a dependent child (see OAR 461-001-0000) under two
years of age may be a volunteer (see OAR 461-130-0305) and participate, subject
to the availability of services.

(11) An
individual who has gone over-income for the TANF program due to earnings and needs
to increase activity hours to meet Post-TANF federally required participation rates
(see OAR 461-001-0025) may be a volunteer and participate.

(12) The
amendments to this rule adopted on April 6, 2012 and May 23, 2012 are retroactive
to March 14, 2012.

Subject: OAR 461-135-1260 about the specific requirements for the Job Participation Incentive
(a $10 monthly food benefit) which was amended by temporary rule on May 1, 2012
is being further amended to expand JPI benefits to SNAP cases in which the parent
has a child at least age 6 and under age 18, starting this month. Currently the
benefit is only accessible for parents with children under 6 and working an average
of 20 hours weekly. The amended rule allows parents with no children under 6 but
at least one child age 6 through 17 and working an average of 30 hours weekly to
be considered for the JPI benefit.

(2) An
individual eligible for JPI may receive a $10 monthly food benefit.

(a) The
individual receives the $10 incentive payment starting the month the Department
receives documentation that all enrollment criteria in section (3) of this rule
have been met.

(b) There
are no partial months of JPI benefits.

(c) The
individual may only be issued retroactive JPI benefits as allowed under OAR 461-180-0130.

(3) To
receive JPI, an individual must meet the requirements of all of the following subsections:

(a) Be
working at an unsubsidized paid employment that meets the federally required participation
rates (see OAR 461-001-0025). For self-employment or piece rate work, the hours
of work must be equivalent to the required average weekly hours at Oregon State
minimum wage. An individual must either:

(A) Be
a single parent of a dependent child under six years of age and working at an unsubsidized
paid employment for an average of at least 20 weekly hours; or

(B) Be
a single parent of a dependent child at least six years of age and under 18 years
of age, and working at an unsubsidized paid employment for an average of at least
30 weekly hours.

(b) Provide
the Department with employer-produced documents of paid, unsubsidized work hours
covering a consecutive two-week period that has occurred within the last 60 days.

(c) Anticipate
weekly employment hours will remain the same or increase for the reporting period.

(d) Provide
employer-produced documents of paid, unsubsidized work hours each time requested
by the Department and no later than the last day of the sixth month following the
date the client provides the verification of work hours in accordance with subsections
(a) and (b) of this section.

(e) Be
an eligible adult in a SNAP benefit group (see OAR 461-110-0750) and the sole parent
of an eligible dependent child under age 18 in the same SNAP benefit group.

(f) Not
be receiving any Post-TANF, SFPSS, or TANF program benefits in the same month.

Subject: OAR 461-180-0130 about the effective date for restoring benefits is being amended
as part of the expansion of JPI. This amendment clarifies that restoration of benefits
for JPI is limited to months under which the JPI rule makes the individual eligible.
Parents in the newly expanded group will not receive restored JPI benefits prior
to May of this year.

Rules
Coordinator: Annette Tesch—(503) 945-6067

461-180-0130

Effective
Dates; Restored Benefits

(1) The effective
date for restoring benefits that were underpaid (including erroneous collections
of overpayments) or denied or closed in error is set as follows:

(a) Except
as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, in all programs except the
SNAP program, for underpayments resulting from administrative error, the effective
date is the date the error was made.

(b) In
all programs except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, benefits may
be restored only for the preceding 12 months.

(c) JPI
benefits may be restored only for the preceding four months and not to a date earlier
than the individual is eligible under OAR 461-135-1260.

(d) In
all programs except the SNAP program, for underpayments resulting from client error,
the effective date is the earliest of the following:

(A) The
month the benefit group (see OAR 461-110-0750) notifies the branch office (see OAR
461-001-0000) of the possible loss.

(B) The
month the branch office discovers the loss.

(C) The
date a hearing is requested.

(2) In
the SNAP program, for underpayments resulting from administrative error, benefits
are restored for not more than twelve months prior to whichever of the following
occurs first:

(a) The
date the benefit group notifies the branch office of the possible loss.

(b) The
date the branch office discovers the loss.

(c) The
date a hearing is requested.

(3) In
the SNAP program, benefits are not restored for underpayments resulting from client
error.

(4) The
effective date for restoring benefits that have been suspended is:

(a) For
individuals whose medical assistance is suspended because they are incarcerated
with an anticipated stay of a year or less, see OAR 461-135-0950(8).

(b) When
subsection (a) of this section does not apply:

(A) The
first of the month after the suspension, if suspension was for only one month; or

(B) The
date the benefit group again becomes eligible, if benefits have been suspended for
more than 30 days. The Department treats the month in which benefits are restored
as an initial month (see OAR 461-001-0000).

Subject: OAR 461-135-1175 about the Senior Farm Direct Nutrition Program is being suspended
because this program has been transferred to the Oregon Health Authority, Public
Health Division, and its policies are set out at OAR 333-052-0030, 333-052-0040,
333-052-0041, 333-052-0042, 333-052-0100.

(2) An
individual is eligible for SFDNP if the individual meets all of the following eligibility
criteria on April 1 of the calendar year in which benefits are sought:

(a) Has
countable income (see OAR 461-001-0000) less than 135 percent of the Federal Poverty
Level as listed in OAR 461-155-0295.

(b) Receives
Medicaid or SNAP benefits.

(c) Is
homeless or resides in their own home or rental property.

(d) Is
age 60 or older.

(3) SFDNP
is funded by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The
Department determines the allotment amount and number of eligible individuals on
an annual basis, based on the grant allocation received from the USDA.

(4) The
Department may not issue more than one SFDNP allotment per participant, per year.

(5) SFDNP
begins June 1 each year and ends on October 31 each year. In order to qualify for
the program, the Department must receive the applicant’s letter of interest
by September 15 of the year in question.

(6) The
Department processes applicants’ letters of interest in the order in which
the letters are received at the Department’s central office.

(7) When
the grant allocation received from the USDA is expended in its entirety, the Department
closes SFDNP for the year in question.

(8) The
Department determines the treatment of SFDNP benefits during the eligibility process
for other programs in accordance with OAR 461-145-0190.

Notes1.) This online version of the OREGON BULLETIN is provided for convenience of reference and enhanced access. The official, record copy of this publication is contained in the original Administrative Orders and Rulemaking Notices filed with the Secretary of State, Archives Division. Discrepancies, if any, are satisfied in favor of the original versions. Use the OAR Revision Cumulative Index found in the Oregon Bulletin to access a numerical list of rulemaking actions after November 15, 2011.